comments on upgrade?

[Davegod]

New choices -
3700+ San Diego
Epox 9NPA+ ultra
Ballistix 2x512 PC3200 2-2-2-6
XFX Nvidia 7800 GT


[OLD]XFX 7800GT 256MB DDR3 Dual DVI VIVO PCI-E £238.27 +VAT
AMD Athlon 64 (San Diego) 3700 CPU Skt 939 Retail £158.70 + VAT
Asus A8N SLI S939 Nvnf4sli £74.44 + VAT
Corsair (TWINX1024-3200C2PT) 2 x 512MB Matched Pair PC3200 £73.74+VAT

Total: £645.73 Inc. sales tax & shipping[/OLD]

To upgrade system in sig. Mostly wondering about the choice of mobo & ram, neither of which I'm very clued up on atm:

- I'd prefer passive northbridge cooling and put some value on a good layout. DFI would be more expensive while i'd lose SLI option (unlikely to be used, but anyway).
- That Corsair was the cheapest RAM I'd consider, I want half decent timings and a modest FSB overclock. I seriously considered Ocz EL Gold PC3200 2-2-2-5 but at £130 the same extra could get me a 7800GTX. Ballistix and XMS3200C2PRO are about £105, fwiw, seriously tempting if i thought 2-2-2-7 @ 220mhz would be probable, without excessive voltage.

Mostly interested in gaming, though DVDShrink and so on a consideration. Probably will only moderately overclock at first - i dont like overvolting heavily - probably ramp it up when I'm thinking about upgrading again

 

[imported_Kensai]

5/10.. No point in a slight overclock to ram on an A64 system.. A small performance gain..

eVGA > BFG > Everything but PNY and XFX > PNY > Big Gap > XFX.

Get Value ram and run at a divider..

 

[suicidalpigeon]

you dont need sli.

 

[mode101wpb]

Personally I'd go with the ATI X800XL and save the money, it's a great performing GPU for the price. As far as SLI goes, I went with the A8N-SLI Premium, for the future, a year from now or so if I feel the need to dump the extra cash into another GPU, which would have to be nVidia of course and 2 of them = $$$$ I'll have to put out more cash to do so, thing is I agree that SLI is a bit overkill right now. I'm more then happy with the X800XL, but I know I have the option to go full bore when required.

 

[CreativeTom]

I have a x800xl as before mentioned, it's a nice card, but if you want to go hardcore then go with the 7800GTX.

I don't know what Kensai is talking about, XFX cards are not bad, granted EVGA is much nicer in my opinion and BFG also. The XFX cards are more budget type cards, but they are not bad quality, I have built many systems for people using XFX and never ran into any problems with them.

 

[mode101wpb]

I was going to wait for Crossfire, but I couldn't.

 

[Davegod]

Originally posted by: Kensai
eVGA > BFG > Everything but PNY and XFX > PNY > Big Gap > XFX.

the XFX got no problems in reviews, is clocked a little higher, and is the cheapest 7800GT option. Manufacturer support isnt the same issue in UK, our initial warranty goes through the retailer rather than the manufacturer. extended warranties are with the manufacturer, but arent XFI lifetime warranty anyway?

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
you dont need sli.

Like I said. But, I havent found a cheaper or better-for-same non-SLI alternative. Abit AN8 NF4Ultra is essentially same price, DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D is 16% more - I'd pay it if worthwhile?

 

[DavidoFoo]

Originally posted by: Kensai
5/10.. No point in a slight overclock to ram on an A64 system.. A small performance gain..

eVGA > BFG > Everything but PNY and XFX > PNY > Big Gap > XFX.

Get Value ram and run at a divider..

eVGA 7800GT
Processor is fine, maybe try to move up to an X2 3800+
Premium, deluxe, or regular? I'd think an an8 ultra, dfi ultra-d, or epox 9npa+ultra to be a much better choice
Get 2 1GB sticks instead - PDP 2-3-2/OCZ EL Platinum or Crucial Ballistix PC4000(I think even these are OOS) or Ballistix Tracers

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: Davegod

Originally posted by: Kensai
eVGA > BFG > Everything but PNY and XFX > PNY > Big Gap > XFX.

the XFX got no problems in reviews, is clocked a little higher, and is the cheapest 7800GT option. Manufacturer support isnt the same issue in UK, our initial warranty goes through the retailer rather than the manufacturer. extended warranties are with the manufacturer, but arent XFI lifetime warranty anyway?

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
you dont need sli.

Like I said. But, I havent found a cheaper or better-for-same non-SLI alternative. Abit AN8 NF4Ultra is essentially same price, DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D is 16% more - I'd pay it if worthwhile?

In my experience, XFX doesn't have a lifetime warranty nor is their support any good.

 

[daftpunkit]

i dont think UK can get the eVGA. pricegrabber.co.uk doesn't find any eVGA products.

 

[theMan]

you should switch to the an X2 3800+ also, get 2gb corsair value. that board has a lot of issues. probably the best board for a passive heatsink is the a8n sli premium, but its really expensive.

 

[Davegod]

3800 x2 - waaay more expensive, and isnt it slower in games? I didnt mean gaming and dvd shrink at the same time

eVGA is nowhere to be found. I'll go with the BFG if anyone can find it in UK for around £280 inc vat & shipping, otherwise the BFG 7800GT is nearly same price as everyone else's GTX's (top vs here). I'm going with the XFX unless either there's some changes to prices over here, or I get something other than a 7800GT.

Thanks for mobo pointers, any more? What's difference between A8N SLI and A8N Premium, other than a few extra components soldered on?

I had a thought about 2gb ram but nothing seems to need it apart from 0.5% of BF2 players, and there's a big hit in the timings - and wallet! I'd rather spend the very significant extra money by boosting other components and sticking with 1gb.

 

[nick1985]

Get a gig of Value RAM 3200, and use the saved cash for a 7800GTX. You will get much better performance if you make this switch...

 

[Davegod]

You're probably right there nick, so I went to check out crucial value stuff, but it's more expensive than that corsair! I'm sure it wasnt when i started researching the upgrade. I can still get kingston value for a bit cheaper but there's nothing in it.

 

[Davegod]

ok so everyone hated the mobo, and reckon i work hard so fark it. how about these which are about equal price far as it matters:
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D
Epox 9NPA+ SLI (might have to be the Ultra as hard to find SLI one in stock)

ram wasnt too popular either, down to choice of:
Corsair XMS3200C2PT 2x512mb (cheaper)
Ballistix 2x512 PC3200 2-2-2-6 (timings)
Ocz Performance DDR433 2x512 ("fsb")

I'll decide on GT or GTX depending on how i feel about throwing money around on the day. obviously I'm a bit more likely to if i get the cheaper ram.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Kensai
In my experience, XFX doesn't have a lifetime warranty nor is their support any good.

Apparently XFX does offer a full lifetime warranty on retail cards now. But you'd better verify that real closely before purchase...

I've always used BFG and right now eVGA has some decent deals (as well their 7800GT is clocked higher by default than the BFG). Then again, my BFG 7800GT cards both run 490/1170 without breaking a sweat. Now if we could just unlock those other 4 pipes and the shader

 

[Bona Fide]

XFX is horrible. Go with eVGA. Also, if you want performance RAM, you'll be paying a performance price. I'd say get the OCZ Gold VX PC4000.

 

[raildogg]

enough generalizations about various companies

XFX makes fine graphics cards and now has a double lifetime warranty. it gets good reviews everywhere. and PNY? they used to make some of the best graphics cards. im sure they still do

 

[Davegod]

ok due to comments and more reading around AT i'm now thinking of:

3700+ San Diego
Epox 9NPA+ ultra
Ballistix 2x512 PC3200 2-2-2-6
XFX Nvidia 7800 GT